Mr. MacWilliams, who holds a degree in illustration from the
Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts), used late 18th century
Philadelphia maps, prints, and other visuals to research the landscape of the
city looking north from Independence Hall. He also read through John Fanning
Watson’s Annalsof Philadelphia to gain a better understanding of life in the
colonial city. Outbuildings, gardens, even horse droppings in the street are
meticulously rendered in his work which took three years to paint. Mr.
MacWilliams also painted a companion piece depicting the view from the same
vantage point in the 21st century.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Today we think of werewolves as a pretty common trope from
the Wolfman to Twilight.However, they
are just one species in the supernatural cannon.The Library Company holds a host of books
dealing with witchcraft, sorcery, spirits and ghosts, but surprisingly
werewolves are a scarce breed.

While cataloging older stack books, I came across a 1920
bibliography put out by the New York Public Library called A List of Works Relating to Lycanthropy.

New York Public Library.A List of Works Relating to Lycanthropy.New York: New York Public Library, 1920.

This seven-page pamphlet contains books in
English, French, German, and Latin ranging in date from 1590 to the early 1900s.Compiler George F. Black did not subscribe to
the belief in werewolves, calling them “a terrible form of superstition,” which
“arose from instances of human savagery.”While short, this bibliography holds a good number of entries and even
goes so far as to include information on what chapters and pages in each volume
a reader can find information on werewolves.The earliest account, published in London in 1590, is A Moste True Discourse, Declaringe the
Damnable Lyfe and Deathe of One Stube Peeter, a Highe Jermayne Borne, a
Sorcerer; Who, in the Likeness of a Wolfe, Committed Many Murders, 25 Years Together;
and for the Same was Executed in the Cuttue of Bedbur, Near Coleyn, the 31 of Marche,
1590.It is also one of the few (in
English at least) that seems to deal seriously with the idea of werewolves as
fact.Another example is Beauvoys de
Chauvincourt’sDiscours de la Lycanthropie ou de la Transmutation des Hommes en Loups
from 1599.However, as early as 1615,
texts like J. de Nynauld’s De
Lycantrhopie, Transformation, et Extase des Sorciers were being published
which refuted the idea of werewolves as fact.There are many texts listed in this bibliography from the 1800s that
explore the mythos and origins of werewolves in folklore.

Peter James Begbie. Supernatural Illusions.
London: T.C. Newby, 1851.

Intrigued by this find, I tried to locate other books in the
library’s collections on lycanthropy.After searching the catalog and perusing the shelves, I finally stumbled
upon Major P. I. Begbie’s 1851 Supernatural
Illusions, a book on various creatures of the night including kelpies,
witches, will-o’-the-wisps, spirits, and werewolves.Like other authors writing on the occult
Begbie calls these superstitions “absurdities,” prefacing his book as a partial
translation of an earlier text by Dr. Jacob Bräuner.

Here is what I’ve learned from reading Begbie.Historically werewolves were considered
creatures “discarded from Satan’s livery stables.”The whys and hows of werewolves have changed
over time, going from a man throwing “his soul headlong into the carcase of a
wolf, leaving his own body, for the time being, inanimate on the ground” to
“false apparitions conjured up by the devil.”Witches are apparently the natural enemies of werewolves and “cease not
to persecute them.”Begbie claims
werewolf lore comes from disgruntled wives accusing their husbands of
lycanthropy to be rid of them, and since wives are naturally witches, they must
be a gentleman-wolf’s greatest enemy!He
also brings up the concept that women can turn into cats, who then cause all
sorts of mischief for men.

Both Begbie and Black presented werewolf lore as a superstitious
subject to study, giving examples and accounts to look at, but dismissing them
as wild tales.I will admit to being
slightly disappointed that I did not find more “true” accounts of werewolf
attacks or how to spot them.

These were the only books in the library that I could find
easily that shed light on the myth or “reality” of werewolves.How many other lycanthropic books might be
lurking in the stacks, waiting to be discovered?Perhaps if we shed a bit of moonlight on
them, they might be easier to find!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Elms, an
etching by Augustus Kollner, initially seemed like it would be a relatively
straightforward work to catalog.The
artist’s name, title and date, 1844, were all printed beneath the image.

However,
in a cataloger’s world of art historical mysteries, things are not always as
they seem.Woven among blades of grass
on the lower border of the print and barely visible to the naked eye is another
date: 1896.

So which date is
correct?For the answer we must look
back into Kollner’s biography.

Augustus Kollner moved to Philadelphia in 1840 and spent his
first few years traveling throughout the East Coast making sketches of the
scenery.He also created watercolors and
drawings during his explorations of the Philadelphia area.It seems likely that Kollner sketched the
idyllic riverside scene depicted in The
Elms during this time; an assumption confirmed by the 1844 date.However, later in life Kollner made oil
paintings, watercolors, and prints of his earlier sketches.In addition to labeling these later works
with the date they were created, Kollner would also include the date of the
original drawing.This leads to the very
confusing situation of two works of art made by the same person, of the same
scene, but inscribed with two conflicting dates.

A little more digging reveals another clue to this
mystery.In the collection of the Free
Library of Philadelphia, there is a watercolor drawing by Kollner called The Elm Tree Opposite Laurel Hill.It depicts the same scene as the etching at
the Library Company: a grouping of tall trees on a riverbank with a stone
building on the right.This drawing is
also dated 1844.Given Kollner’s unusual
system for dating his works, it is safe to say that the Free Library’s
watercolor was created in 1844 and the Library Company’s print was made in
1896, when Kollner revisited his previous work.

In fact, Kollner did not just copy his previous drawing into
another medium; he made a few key changes when he revisited the work over 50
years later.He populated his etching
with a boat on the river, two men conversing in front of the trees and woman
standing on the wooden balcony of the stone building.He also identified the building as the Falls
Hotel by labeling the sign on the building (which is present in the drawing,
but left blank).With these changes,
Kollner situates the scene in a more specific location - the neighborhood of
East Falls, across the Schuylkill River from West Laurel Hill Cemetery.

With a magnifying glass and a bit of research this art
historical mystery is solved.

Monday, August 4, 2014

In
a series of occasional blog posts, participants in our Mellon Scholars Internship and Workshop programs will introduce themselves, discuss their
experiences at the Library Company, and share their goals for pursuing careers
in the field of early African American history. This program is generously
funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

My name
is Michael Dickinson, and I am a doctoral candidate in the History Department
at the University of Delaware. I recently had the pleasure to serve as the
graduate research advisor for the Mellon Scholars Program alongside Program
Director Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar and LCP Curator Krystal Appiah. During the
third week of June, the program held a week-long workshop for a select group of
students interested in research and graduate study in African American history,
literature, and library science. Workshop participants attended an array of
professional development seminars intended to explain and familiarize students
with the graduate school application process including drafting a successful personal
statement and curriculum vitae, applying for academic funding, selecting
recommenders, and graduate school admission procedures. Moreover, workshop activities familiarized students
with tools for success at the graduate level including time management, writing
sophistication, and the utility of academic mentorship.

The two
sessions I led were dedicated to navigating graduate school and editing a
personal statement. I was truly impressed at the engagement and enthusiasm of
the participants. "How should I approach the large amount of reading
material required in graduate school?" "How do I make my personal statement
stand out?" "What challenges should we expect in graduate
school?" These were just a few of the questions I received. Clearly the
students were eager to learn and full of curiosity. Over the course of the
week, I also led the group on a number of trips to historical resources beyond
the Library Company, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, MotherBethel A.M.E. Church, and Temple University's Blockson Afro-American Collection.

On each
of these excursions, Mellon Scholars could be found eagerly taking notes or
photographs. Each of the locations was chosen as an institution likely to aid in
the participants' intellectual and academic development. Throughout the week,
students became increasingly aware of the depth of historical resources for
early African American history held at the Library Company and throughout
Philadelphia.

The
program hosted a number of research presentations to provide students with opportunities
to engage in formal scholarly discourse. The Mellon Scholars briefly conducted
research at the Library Company as well in order to gain experience researching
in archival collections. Each participant was given a topic supported by
primary source material held at the Library Company. Specifically, each Scholar
was assigned a historical African American figure or organization along with a
larger theme to examine for the exercise. For example, one student was assigned
African American activist Octavius Catto as a window into early black political
activity. With the assistance of the LCP and Mellon Scholars Program staff, the
students were able to uncover valuable source material. Participants then presented their findings in
a conference-style format on the final day of the workshop. The presentations
were both engaging and impressive, especially given the limited time students
had had to conduct archival research. The quality of the final projects as well
as the enthusiasm demonstrated by the students throughout the week surely attested
to their excitement for the program, passion for early African American
studies, and gratitude for the opportunity to
research at the Library Company of Philadelphia. It was truly my pleasure to
work with such a talented and passionate group of students through the Mellon
Scholars Program.

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The Library Company of Philadelphia

The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Open to the public free of charge, the Library Company houses an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, prints, photographs, and works of art. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company is America's oldest cultural institution and served as the Library of Congress from the Revolutionary War to 1800. The Library Company was the largest public library in America until the Civil War.

The mission of the Library Company is to preserve, interpret, make available, and augment the valuable materials in our care. We serve a diverse constituency throughout Philadelphia and internationally, offering comprehensive reader services, an internationally renowned fellowship program, online catalogs, and regular exhibitions and public programs.